26 April 2023, Budapest – The Hungarian Competition Authority has consulted with five national professional organisations representing the sector and the Ministry of Agriculture on their draft proposals to reduce the retail price of dairy products. The public consultation on the draft report of the accelerated sector inquiry into the dairy market will continue until 20 May to reach a professional consensus.

The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) published for public consultation a draft report summarising the results of its accelerated sector inquiry into the milk and dairy products market, last week. Based on the findings of the analysis, the competition authority has made six proposals to reduce inflation. In these, the GVH’s experts propose, among other things, a review of the price formula for raw milk, offer professional assistance for future legislative considerations on food price caps, suggest strengthening the comparability of consumer prices, propose a rethink of the pricing of plant-based beverages and call for further regulatory actions in the food trade sector. Industry stakeholders have one month, until 20 May, to comment on the draft report, which is available on the GVH's website.

In the framework of the month-long public consultation, the national competition authority held a consultation meeting on 26 April 2023 at the headquarters of the GVH with the professional organisations representing the sector and the professional organisations concerned by the draft report's proposals, such as the Milk Interprofessional Organisation and Product Board, National Trade Association, Hungarian Trade Association, Association of Responsible Food Producers, National Association of Plant-Based Food Producers and Distributors and the Ministry of Agriculture. The latter was represented at the meeting by Márton Nobilis, State Secretary for Food Industry and Trade Policy.

Csaba Balázs Rigó, President of the GVH highlighted: „Our main goal is to bring prices down! The public consultation gives all stakeholders the opportunity to express their views on the draft report. Our aim is to develop, together with market players and with the greatest possible consensus, pro-competitive and pro-business proposals that best serve the interests of Hungarian consumers and undertakings.”

GVH Public Service Communications and International Section

Further information:

Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939

Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170

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